Entrees

Mushroom Campanelle

For a vegetarian pasta entree option, there is the mushroom campanellefeaturing local mushrooms, walnuts, mission figs, arugula and white wine. It’s a hearty pasta dish with a luscious, creamy sauce. The Chef’s suggested wine pairing is a Cedar Creek Riesling.

There are also add-on options to entrees including grilled garlic prawns (+$14), roasted mushroom (+$10) and brussel sprouts ($10).

Dessert

Sunburnt Lemon Tart

For a satisfying finish to the meal, there is the sunburnt lemon tart with zesty flavours, caramelized top, and a buttery crust.

Chocolate Cake

Or if you’re a cake-o-phile, the chocolate cake with chocolate truffle and raspberry coulis is a delicious choice.

I usually like to name my choice items for an ideal three-course menu but I enjoyed all the dishes I tried. Any combination in my opinion would be delicious.

Giveaway

In partnership with Seasons in the Park, I am giving away a three-course prix-fixe weekday lunch for 2. Visit my Instagram for more details!

I came to know about Suhang Restaurant in Richmond as they are recommended in Tourism Richmond’s Dumpling Trail itinerary. Suhang is best known for their xiao long baosalso known as pork soup dumplings.

Strip Mall Restaurant with Relaxed Ambiance

Located on in a strip mall on Ackroyd Road, the restaurant doesn’t seem like much from the outside with all the blinds down. On the inside, the restaurant has a modest decor and seems like a cozy, casual place to enjoy a comforting meal.

We came in on a Sunday morning and were seated right away. The restaurant is small but the ambiance was quite nice being not noisy and chaotic.

Suhang Restaurant Menu

Suhang focuses on Shanghai-style cuisine. Their menu features Dim Sum (non-vegetarian and vegetarian), Cold Dishes, Soups, Morning Market Soups, Noodle Dishes, Rice Dishes. Most of their Dim Sum seem to run around $8 – $10. I have put together a pdf of their menu which you can download here (10 MB).

What We Tried

On this particular Sunday morning, we tried a few of their dishes.

Xiao Long Bao (6 pieces for $7.95)

The xiao long baos did not disappoint. The thin, delicate wrappers were on point and held together all of the contents. The broth was hot and flavourful and not too salty while the filling was bouncy and tender. I would love to have this again at Suhang.

Xiao Long Bao with Crab Meat and Pork Filling (6 pieces for $13.95)

For an elevated xiao long bao experience, we ordered ones with crab meat and pork filling. The filling texture is more light fluffy than the classic xiao long bao which suggests that there is a reasonable amount of crab meat incorporated. The filling definitely had a taste of crab in it.

These premium xiao long baos are $6 more than the classic version. While they are good, the classic ones are just as satisfying. You could just order two rounds of the classic for pretty much the same price as one crab and pork one.

Sichuan style pig ear salad ($9.95)

The spicy pig ears had a good spicy kick to them from the Sichuan red oil and peppercorns. I like this delicacy because of the chewy texture from the gristle.

Fried Dumplings with Red Bean Paste (4 pieces for $10.95)

For sweets, we had the deep fried dumplings with red bean paste topped with sugar. I enjoyed the very light, crispy and fluffy texture of the dough but the small amount of red bean paste filling left much to be desired. I would not order this again.

Complimentary Coconut Pudding

We also received complimentary orders (one per person) of coconut pudding at the end of the meal. It had a nice gelatinous texture and good coconut flavour without being too sweet.

Service

I usually don’t expect much in terms of service at Chinese restaurants except places where I pay $$$ (like at Chang’an). However, I was pleasantly surprised at the excellent service at Suhang which was attentive, timely and with a smile.

Overall Impression

I would love to revisit Suhang Restaurant again the future to try more of their dishes and to enjoy their Xiao Long Baos again. Not a super fancy place in terms of decor (like Shiang Restaurant) but I enjoyed the comfortable ambiance. Service was terrific. Rating: 4/5

Located in the Moda Hotel in Downtown Vancouver’s arts and cultural district, Cibo Trattoria is a place where you can enjoy simple, rustic food, casual service and good wine. This month, the restaurant has unveiled a number of new signature Italian-inspired breakfast and lunch dishes crafted by Executive Chef Curtis Luk.

I was invited to a media tasting of their lunch dishes. Here’s a look at what you can expect.

Cibo Trattoria Lunch Menu

For lunch, appetizer ($5 – $18) selections includes items like arancini (porcini mushroom, mushroom jam), burrata and ever-changing daily charcuterie and local and Italian cheese plates served with grilled sourdough and seasonal garnishes.

One of the staple pastries found at Starbucks is the Almond Croissant. I tried it for the first time recently. Here are a few thoughts on the Starbucks Almond Croissant.

Description

According to the company, the Starbucks Almond Croissant features a rich, almond flan enveloped in a flaky, buttery croissant, then topped with sliced almonds.

Nutrition

Based on a serving size of 99 grams, the Starbucks Almond Croissant has 420 calories, 22 grams of fat, 75 mg of cholesterol, 390 mg of sodium, 45 grams of carbohydrates, and 10 grams of protein.

A regular Starbucks croissant has 260 calories but a smaller serving size (62 g). This means, that the Almond Croissant has 60% more calories than a regular croissant at Starbucks.

Price

The Starbucks Almond Croissant is priced at $3.25 + tax. Based on Vancouver, Canada pricing.

My Thoughts

I liked that the Starbucks Almond Croissant had a good amount of sliced almonds on top. The almond flan filling was rich, nutty and flavourful. The only thing is that the croissant looks pretty deflated; there isn’t much of a rise.

The Starbucks Almond Croissant is OK for a croissant fix out of convenience while you grab your coffee. The price Starbucks charges for it is probably slightly cheaper compared to other bakeries in Vancouver where the almond croissant would be around $4.

To find out where to get the best almond croissant in Vancouver, I recommend my friend Hanson’s (noshandnibble.blog) post found here.

Kabsa House Menu

Kabsa House’s menu takes on Middle Eastern influences with a special focus on dishes from Saudi Arabia. The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner and also has weekday lunch and Happy Hour specials.

Kabsa (just like the restaurant’s name) is a family of mixed rice dishes served with meat and has its origins in Saudi Arabia. At Kabsa House, the kabsa entrees are served with choice of saffron rice, bukhari rice (or French Fries).

For proteins, there aremeat (chicken and lamb) and seafood options. The meats are offered in a variety of styles like rotisserie chicken, roasted lamb, kababs (skewered), awsal (grilled pieces) and ground. They also offer family platters options.

What We Tried

Disclosure: I was invited to a media tasting. All food and drinks were complimentary.

My guest and I enjoyed a hosted lunch at Kabsa House and tried many of their offerings.

Appetizers

To start, the hummus ($6.50) tasted fresh and had a luscious creamy, smooth texture. The flavour was just right for me being not too bold with the tahini or garlic. I thought the hummus was beautifully presented with olive oil on top, a crisscross of spices and accented with olives and cucumbers. The hummus is served with pita bread.

Another starter that we tried was the falafel dish ($14.99) featuring five pieces of fried falafel served with Tahini sauce, tomatoes, cucumber and pita bread. The falafels were sinfully crispy, crunchy on the outside while being moist, light and flaky on the inside. A must-try at Kabsa House.

Stew

We also had the bamiya ($7.99) featuring a sweet and sour okra stew served with pita bread.

Kabsa Entrees

We had the Mixed Awsal ($19.50) which had grilled marinated boneless chicken and lamb pieces. The meats were grilled on a skewer but not served as skewers. This was accompanied by a house salad, grilled tomato, raisins, carrots and choice of rice (we went with saffron).

The grilled meats were tender and flavour which went well with the aromatic and also flavourful saffron bukhari rice.

The other entree we tried was the weekday lamb awsal entree ($14.50) which is served Monday to Friday from 12 – 2 pm. It’s a smaller portion of the full-sized kabsa entree but very appropriate for a lunch dish.

Dessert

To finish off a delicious meal, we indulged in the Cream Kunafa ($6.99). It’s a traditional Arabic dessert made with long, thin strands of shredded phyllo dough soaked in simple syrup. It was creamy, gooey and had some beautiful floral flavours.

Kabsa offers a taste of the Middle East on Robson Street. I enjoyed all the dishes and would order the sames ones them again. For more information, visit kabsahouse.ca

Spiciness Levels

The McChickens were made spicy through new spicy mayonnaise sauces created by McDonald’s chefs and Chef Joseph Jorvath from McDonald’s supplier Flavour Reddy Foods. These spicy sauces replace the regular non-spicy mayonnaise in the McChicken.

The spiciness level is measured in Scoville Heat Units (SHU) with the higher the units the more spiciness.

Spice ratings of each pepper, according to the Scoville scale, measure at:

Jalapeno Pepper = 2500 – 8000 SHU

Habanero Pepper = 100,000 – 350,000 SHU

Ghost Pepper = Over 1,000,000 SHU

The Ghost Pepper is essentially 10x more spicy than the Habanero.

Nutrition Comparison

From a nutrition standpoint, all the McChickens are pretty comparable. This is not surprising considering the only change to the sandwiches were the sauces. The most obvious difference is that the Habanero and Ghost Pepper have more sodium than the regular McChicken.

Regular McChicken

Jalapeño McChicken

Habanero McChicken

Ghost Pepper McChicken

Serving size (grams)

173

176

177

177

Calories (kcal)

470

460

470

460

Fat (grams)

27

25

25

25

Carbohydrates (grams)

44

44

44

44

Protein (grams)

16

16

16

16

Sodium (mg)

650

680

760

750

Spicy McChicken Price

All the spicy McChickens are $5.69 for the sandwich or make it a meal for $9.09. They’re just $0.30 more than a regular McChicken is $5.39. This is based on Vancouver, Canada pricing.

McDonald’s Spicy Jalapeño McChicken Review

I tried only the Jalapeno McChicken which features a green colour jalapeno sauce (the Habanero and Ghost Pepper sauces are orange). I thought it had a nice spicy kick to it but not too offensive for the untrained palette.

For true pepper heads, I think the Habanero would be more satisfying. And perhaps if you have a good cry, the Ghost Pepper would be up your alley.

Have you tried any of the new spicy McChicken sandwiches? Let me know in the comments below.

At a media event recently, I was able to sample some specialty flavours from Purdys Chocolates. Here’s a look at the Mango, Matcha and Mandarinflavours offered by Purdys.

Mango

I love mango desserts and was excited to try the Mango flavour. It’s made with a creamy white chocolate ganache brightened by tart mango purée, inside a white chocolate shell speckled with naturally coloured cocoa butter.

I thought the chocolate definitely had some tropical vibes and packed some fruity punch to it. The white chocolate went well with the mango flavour. I thought the mango flavour had a nice balance of tartness and sweetness.

Matcha

The Matcha flavour features a creamy blend of white chocolate and matcha green tea powder inside a milk chocolate shell. The speckling on the shell is created through a unique spraying process done by hand that uses a natural Spirulina-based dye mixed with cocoa butter (a natural oil extracted from the cocoa bean).

Similar to what I had experienced with North American Matcha Kit Kats, I thought that Purdy’s version was more white chocolate than matcha green tea. I personally like a more authentic matcha taste – that is, with a slight bitter aftertaste – but that might not be as appealing to North American general audience.

Mandarin

The Mandarin chocolate features a 60% dark chocolate ganache blended with tangy mandarin orange purée crafted from Sicilian mandarin oranges. The shell is made of dark chocolate speckled with naturally coloured cocoa butter.

This flavour was apparently launched in conjuction with Lunar New Year. I personally love dark chocolate so this flavour was up my alley. The fruity mandarin flavour was good.

Overall Impression

The Mandarin flavour was my favourite followed by the Mango. These chocolates are available as 6 pieces at Purdys Chocolates.

Vancouver’s newest entertainment complex, Parq Vancouver, is home to eight on-site restaurants. One of which is Honey Salt, a contemporary farm-to-table bistro with an emphasis on locally and regionally sourced ingredients.

Honey Salt brings a bit of Las Vegas to Parq Vancouver as Honey Salt’s first location is off the strip in Vegas. The restaurant is a venture between husband and wife duo restauranteur Elizabeth Blau and Chef Kim Canteenwalla.

A while back, David (pickydiners.com) and I decided to visit Honey Salt for Happy Hour. Unfortunately, the Happy Hour menu that David had researched ahead of time was for the Las Vegas location. Nevertheless, we stayed and tried a few items from their menu.

What We Tried

David had the Honeygroni($16) featuring botanist gin, sweet vermouth, averna, amaro montenegro, honey syrup. As noted in his review, David liked how Honey Salt categorizes their cocktails: “Salt of the Earth”, “Sweeter than Honey”, and “Gin & Tonics.” This makes it easier to choose the flavours which best suits your tastes: earthy, fruity, or refreshing.

David noted that averna and amaro montenegro replaced campari in a classic Negroni resulting in more citrus, herbal notes, and earthiness into the drink but balanced with honey. He found it to be an easier drinking version of Negroni but still interesting.

I had the nonalcoholic Sweet Tea ($5) which was essentially an iced tea.

Next, we had the Oceanwise Fish & Chips ($18) featuring Haida Gwaii rockfish, smashed peas and tartar sauce. A classic dish to have on the menu to cater to general audience, but it wasn’t particularly memorable for me. I thought the batter could have been crispier. David and I did found the fries with aioli dip good and more appetizing than the fish itself.

I thought the cake was wonderfully moist and not overly decadent but still very satisfying. It was melt-in-your-mouth delicious with all the luscious banana and chocolatelyflavours. The cake is meant to be shared but you might just not want to!

I enjoyed the Society cake much more than David (he loves cocktails, I love my cake – to each their own!).

Overall Impression

Honey Salt has quite an extensive menu offering (breakfast, lunch, dinner, Happy Hour, afternoon tea, and so forth) and on this visit we didn’t order enough for a good tasting of what they have to offer. I’d be interested in trying their other menus in the future.

For now, I’d recommend to Society Chocolate & Banana Cake for people who love desserts. It really is good. Rating: 3.5/5

What To Expect

Everyone gets a different meal: On your table will be a mystery envelope with your entrée and dessert locations. It is a friendly competition and you get to taste the dishes but you won’t know who the winners are until the end of the evening.

Theme tables: Always great fun to tour each of the set-ups – maybe you’ll find some idea that you can use at home later on. Select your favourite table. The food bloggers will be judging and picking their favourite one.

Auctions: Bid on a great selection of items at the silent and live auctions. Proceeds will support programs at the Canadian Cancer Society, BC Heart and Stroke and the BCCA Scholarship Program.

Entertainment: Enjoy DJ music, presentations and roaming entertainers

Swag: Take home an amazing box of swag featuring fresh produce.

Judging: BCCA chefs will carefully judge each entrée and dessert evaluating it for taste, texture, colour, volume of fresh produce used, and the protein offered.

Trophies and prize monies: Awarded for Best Entree, Dessert, The Table Showcase and People’s Choice. Winners are announced at the end of the evening.